Among the best things in life is playing printed games in person with family and close friends. When those are not convenient we like iOS Board Games.
News, reviews, previews, and opinions about board gaming on iPhones, iPads, iPods and even Android devices. (iPhone board games, iPad board games, iPod board games, Android board games)
• Magic Labyrinth Price Drop • Tikal Released • Prose with Bros Released • RoboArena In-Game Trailer • Great Little War Game HD Price Drop • Wordicus Free • Tantrix Free • Shadow Era Update to version 1.25
[Really didn't mean to wait so long to post more News Bits. Been collecting since last week. Easter holiday put me out touch for a few days. We'll be back in the saddle this week with plenty of stuff.]
• The Magic Labyrinth Price Drop - Apr 16 Kiddinx has dropped the price on both The Magic Labyrinth and The Magic Labyrinth for iPad from $2.99 and $4.99 to an historic low of $0.99! [This is what happens when I wait to long to post an item.] The iPad version is still $0.99, an all-time low. This one definitely looks good for the kids.
• Tikal Released - Apr 20 This will hardly be news to many, but Codito Development finally released their iOS implementation of Wolfgang Kramer's and Michael Kiesling's Tikal, much to the parched anticipation of the iOS board game massive. Early response seems mostly positive, with some minor grousing over occasional crashes. This blogger, is having an excellent time so far. Look for a review in this blog coming soon.
• Prose with Bros Released - Apr 20 Ok, maybe this is just silly, but there's a number of reasons to include this app in a blog that's basically about iOS versions of games that come from or are based off of physical components in print games. Perhaps, the fact that it released on 4/20 is also telling. Anyway, Prose with Bros by Evil Laugh Games, mimics refrigerator magnet poetry. Remember how that was popular for about 2 minutes in the 90s? Well now you can revisit your best/dirtiest word shuffling skills.
Wait, theres more! You play this game asynchronously against a random opponent or a close friend. Your sentences are then judged by "the mob." Kind of a neat mechanic for such simple game. If this game gets Facebook integration it might just have a shot at going stupid viral.
• RoboArena In Game Trailer Posted - Apr 21 Bravado Waffle Studios are working on a RoboRally-inspired game. They call it a "Top-Down-Turn-Based-Casual-Strategy-Multiplayer-Action-Game ('TDTBCSMAG' for short)." The fact that it has you program 15 registers instead of the customary 5 has us intrigued. We'll be doing a preview of it later in the week. For now, here is a promotional video.
• Great Little War Game HD for iPad Price Drop - Apr 22 I'd say it's worth a dollar to check this out. As cute as it looks, there is strategy in the movement and use of the various different units. This price drop to $0.99 is its lowest ever. [Again, I'm late with the price drop news. Sorry about that.]
This game apparently will also be getting a "massive" update soon.
Rubicon Development wrote:
❋❋❋ MASSIVE UPDATE COMING REAL SOON ❋❋❋ Multiplayer, Skirmish, 20 more custom maps, various tweaks and enhancements.
• Wordicus Free - Apr 23 Swipe your finger across a grid of tiles to spell a word. Earn points to level up. Play asynchronously with friends and random players from around the globe!
• Tantrix Strategy Free - Apr 23 The goal of this neat looking abstract strategy game is to create the longest line or loop of your chosen color. Extra points for loops! This game is rated pretty highly here at BGG and this could be a great way to learn and interact with the game on your iDevice.
• Shadow Era Update to Version 1.25 - Apr 26 Wulven Game Studios has just completed tons of balance changes, bugfixes, and improvements in version 1.25 of their freemium TCG Shadow Era.
Great blog...Got Tactical soldier the other week and had great fun, then found Hunters... even more fun. Thanks again.. oh now just got Tikal.. no stop it
Great Little War Game is already back up to $2.99.
Darn.
Punk Reaper wrote:
Great blog...Got Tactical soldier the other week and had great fun, then found Hunters... even more fun. Thanks again.. oh now just got Tikal.. no stop it
Agreed! Picked up Tactical Soldier last week and having fun with it. Camera is a little wonky, but otherwise is an excellent little tactical shooter.
Also picked up Hunters, but haven't had time to try it. Too many games, not enough time!
Not that enamored by Tikal YET. The interface is a bit ugly. the jeep (or explorers) are really tiny so you have to zoom in and out a lot. Towards the end the game the tiles closest to the right side of the board overlaps the scores for the players so it's hard to see some of the tiles, and I don't know of a way to scroll out (seemed to be unable to scroll the screen size when it was the last tile, which may be a bug)> finally when scoring it's hard to determine which region is scoring, All minor details to be sure, but I actually prefer the interface on spielbyweb. Then again i was playing on the iphone and not the ipad so that probably would negate some of the criticisms. It's still very good, just has some minor problems.
In another time's forgotten space, your eyes looked through your mother's face. Wildflower seed on the sand and stone, may the four winds blow you safely home.
Tikal works very well and looks good on the iPad. It's still playable on the smaller iPhone screen, but a bit tight.
Great Little War Game is already back up to $2.99.
Darn.
Gah! Sorry about that. That's what I get for taking a holiday from the blog. Price updates, especially all-time lows and free are just too timely sometimes for this format.
I think the best thing for a savvy iOS shopper to do is to mark the "Want It" box on Appshopper.com when an app first comes out and then wait for a price drop alert. You mark enough apps like this (I've got tons of apps marked this way) and you're bound to get a drop soon enough!
I actually think Prose with Bros sounds pretty promising. The crowd-based judging will be the key. If it works out well, it'll be like scrolling through the Eat Poop You Cat archives online.
Not that enamored by Tikal YET. The interface is a bit ugly. the jeep (or explorers) are really tiny so you have to zoom in and out a lot. Towards the end the game the tiles closest to the right side of the board overlaps the scores for the players so it's hard to see some of the tiles, and I don't know of a way to scroll out (seemed to be unable to scroll the screen size when it was the last tile, which may be a bug)> finally when scoring it's hard to determine which region is scoring, All minor details to be sure, but I actually prefer the interface on spielbyweb. Then again i was playing on the iphone and not the ipad so that probably would negate some of the criticisms. It's still very good, just has some minor problems.
No, I have it on my Ipad and still see most of the things you commented on as small issues.Nothing game breaking but small detractors. I see several updates in the near future for Tikal though I am glad it is out and more games are on the way.
Gabe- I love this blog and enjoy seeing on my subsciptions when it pops up. I a loving my Ipad and the games coming out on it. I wish devs would take a queue from Days of Wonder and put the board games out with a high level of quality like Smallworld. Heck- the only issue I have with it is I wish they would add 3-5 player games on.
Hey thanks VL! I'm the game designer for RoboArena and let me assure you, it is gonna rock! I just uploaded a new gameplay video showing off some of the features we've got in place so far: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGNLTQAGA0
